Religious liberty depends on right-of-center gay marriage advocates

Suppose — and it shouldn’t take too much imagination — that gay marriage is inevitable. The remaining question becomes: Is it a gay marriage of the progressive left, one that forces gay marriage down the throats of unwilling Americans, trumping all other protected liberties? Or is it a gay marriage of the right, creating equality under the law without carving out any protected classes and without violating established liberties?

In the smaller, more focused world of the marketplace, of commerce, of public accommodation, the Huguenins have to channel their conduct, not their beliefs, so as to leave space for other Americans who believe something different. That compromise is part of the glue that holds us together as a nation, the tolerance that lubricates the varied moving parts of us as a people. That sense of respect we owe others, whether or not we believe as they do, illuminates this country, setting it apart from the discord that afflicts much of the rest of the world. In short, I would say to the Huguenins, with the utmost respect: it is the price of citizenship.

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